Shloka 29
Prāyaścitta and Contextual Non-Culpability (प्रायश्चित्त-निमित्त-अदोषवाद)
भोजन हान्तराशुद्ध॑ चातुर्मास्ये विधीयते । स्त्रियस्तेन प्रशुध्यन्ति इति धर्मविदो विदु:
bhojanāntarāśuddhaṃ cāturmāsye vidhīyate | striyastena praśudhyanti iti dharmavido viduḥ ||
चातुर्मास्य में भोजन के बीच एक दिन का अन्तर रखकर खाने का विधान है। धर्म के ज्ञाता कहते हैं कि उस नियम के पालन से स्त्रियाँ शुद्ध हो जाती हैं।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that during Cāturmāsya, dharma prescribes a disciplined pattern of eating—taking meals with an interval—as a means of maintaining or restoring ritual purity, specifically noting its purificatory effect for women according to dharma authorities.
Within the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states a rule of religious observance: in the Cāturmāsya period, one should follow a regulated practice of eating with a gap between meals, and tradition holds that this observance brings about purification.